You Are Here: the new David Nicholls 'past-their-prime' romance

'Midlife disenchantment' gives way to romance for two walkers on a cross-country hike

Cover of David Nicholls' book You Are Here
David Nicholls is a 'literary paradox': he's never won a major book prize, yet 'retains a virtually critic-proof common touch'
(Image credit: Hachette UK)

David Nicholls is a "literary paradox". The "One Day" author has "never won a major book prize, yet retains a virtually critic-proof common touch".

He's popular with readers "because he mines with exquisite intimacy the humdrum aspects of daily life", said The Telegraph, carving out a niche as "a poet of the mundane, like Larkin without the misanthropy". 

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Meanwhile, as "a shrewd observer of modern life and love", Nicholls has Michael worrying about how his "main source of communication with his ex is 'through the streaming accounts they still shared, a strangely intimate diary… written in code. Should he worry about the serial killer documentaries?'"

It's the interplay between Marnie and Michael – "the performative banter, the tentative revelations" – that make the book such good company, said The Times. And its protagonists may "start with midlife disenchantment" but along the way they "rediscover romantic feelings they thought they had lost". 

Published on 23 April, Sceptre 320pp £20

Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.